Galapagos Islands Blog Day Four

June 20, 2015 at 11:52 PM

This morning when we woke up our overnight sailing has brought us north over the equator to the island of Genovesa and home to the Red Footed Booby. The island is an imploded volcano. Today we will start our morning photography in Darwin Bay and then this afternoon along El Barranco taking the Prince Phillips steps up to the top of the rock formation to photograph the coastal birds.

Another wet landing on the beach an we were off to explore this section of the island ... so we thought! There were so many birds of many species we barely moved off the landing area over the first hour. We spent the remainder of the morning walking along the trails of mangroves and rock. At one point the trail took us waist deep on an inland stream. The scenery was amazing and the photography very rewarding. Some of the group had a swim on the beach prior to returning to our ship for lunch.

This afternoon we went out in the zodiacs along the cliffs and took the Prince Phillip steps to the top of the escarpment. More nesting birds and a beautiful trail all the ridge. Here are todays selection of images.

Map showing last nights sailing to Genovese

Frigate bird just one of many flying overhead this morning

Galapagos Lava Gull on the beach

The sky was full of birds ....

The Red Footed Booby,Genovese is the only island in the Galapagos you can find them

More Lava Gulls

Red Footed Booby flying overhead

Frigate bird flying out into the bay

Another Red Footed looking for sticks for his nest

Cactus Finch having breakfast

Another Cactus Finch, the can be found in three sizes

Lava Gull watching all the photographers

Red Footed Booby up close\

Another ... the morning light was at our backs and worked in our favour

While walking along the mangroves this booby flew over the tops right above our heads

Frigate birds will steel fish and twigs from the other birds while in flight

Frigate bird with an inflated chest looking for a mate

Omar capturing a few shots of this Frigate

The trail took us across water this morning as we headed further inland

Frigate Bird up close

This is how you attract a mate

Nancy getting a close up of this sea lion as we entered the water

Omar, Howard, Fern and Kim, Christine and Karen in the background

Karen, Wendy and Christine

Bruce working on his shot

Two sea lions we encountered on the inlet

We could not believe how close the birds to you when in the water

Off for more snorkeling

This is Prince Phillips steps which we climbed to get to the top of the escarpment

Nazca Booby with her eggs, they always lay two eggs, the strongest survives

Close-up shot of the Red Footed Booby’s feet

Red Footed Booby with her baby

Red Billed Tropic Birds

Another Red Billed Tropic they were pretty fast to photograph

Short eared owl or spotted owl hunting the small Petral birds

Another shot ... they blend into the landscape and are very hard to see and find

Here’s a shot of him chasing the Petrals

A baby booby, waiting for food

Nancy watching a coupe of Nazca Boobies nesting

Nazca up close

Nazca and her baby

Nazca and her vey young baby

Another beautiful Galapagos sunset as we left the island this evening

That’s if for this evening, tonight we set sail for Bartolme. Good night from the Galapagos Islands.

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Posted by
Michelle Rondeau
on
Jun 21st, 2015

Lovin' travelling with you you. Thanks James for bring the trip alive via your blog and beautiful photos.

Posted by
Michelle Rondeau
on
Jun 21st, 2015

Lovin' travelling with you. Thanks James for bringing the trip alive via your blog and beautiful photos. Greetings to the group.